by Lindsay Nall
“We figured you would want to talk and maybe we can fill in some blanks for each other. We don’t have anything else we can do.” Reagan shrugged looking from Mari’s stunned face around to the faces of Vander, Nyght, Reagan, and Ella.
“Your two-bit brother grounded you too?” Ella nodded with a firm set to her jaw. She looked about just as happy as they were about it. “That doesn’t even make sense, you haven’t even gotten a chance to work with us.” She shrugged then made her way into Mari’s room to take a seat on her bed. She never was a big talker.
The others filed in quietly, Nyght and Mari taking seats on the bed with Ella, Vander swiping the chair from the desk and Reagan, begrudgingly sitting on the floor complaining that he couldn’t see anyone until Mari threw a pillow at him to sit on.
“Did you bring your journal?”
“I’m a Deus, I always have some way to record what’s going on around me,” Nyght smirked pulling the journal he had had earlier out of his pocket and handing it to Ella. “You guys ever heard this before?” Ella read over the entry then handed it around the room letting the other two men read it as well.
“It sounds familiar to me.” Vander whispered spinning in the chair as he gnawed on his lip. He was the only one. Reagan and Ella both had no idea what the words were or even what they meant. A knock on the door interrupted everyone as they sat in quiet trying to figure out if they had heard the words before or if they hadn’t what they might mean.
“Please don’t be Karter,” Mari mumbled worried that after grounding her entire team and his own sister Karter would put another useless antic into motion to keep them from even talking about what this all meant. “Not Karter.”
“Thank you for noticing.” Marinique whispered from where he stood in the hallway. She tried to find his lapel pin but came up empty making her jump to a serious conclusion.
“Karter grounded you too?” He nodded. “What is going on?” Marinique passed her to enter taking up what was left of the space in the room. He looked over the four others gathered within as Mari shut the door. “Maybe you might know.” Nyght handed Marinique the journal without her even having to ask him. She watched his face carefully as he traced over every line slowly with his eyes knowing that if he did know something, and think it would protect her to keep her from knowing it, he would lie to them all. As he finished the passage and handed the journal back to Nyght a strange look was on his face, a look Mari had never seen before. “What is it, uncle?” The others in the room watched him carefully as he worked through the thoughts in his brain trying to find the right words to say.
“I’m assuming based on what I just read that you talked to Karter about visiting Whittiker and that is why we’re all grounded.” Mari narrowed her eyes on him but nodded. What was it with this town that had everyone losing their mind? “Vander, you should recognize it, Nyght you also.” The two men nodded but weren’t sure what the connection was. “You were both raised there.”
“I was?” Vander asked. He knew Marinique had found him at a young age but he had never questioned where he had come from or what had happened to his parents. “Then I was an orphan…” Marinique nodded.
“I found you after the town had been destroyed by the tear that was opened.”
“Wait.” A thought was forming in Mari’s head. “Nyght was found around the same time as Vander then.” Marinique nodded but gave no sign that he was going to fill in any of the blanks for her. “How is it that two Silhouette members just happened to be in the area of a town right after a tear was ripped open and destroyed everything?” Sometimes Marinique hated that she was so smart.
“She has a point.” Nyght whispered giving Vander a strange glance. They had been orphaned together, how odd that they had come back together as friends and allies.
“A field researcher in the area sent out an alert as soon as the tear was opened, Alto and I were the only ones in the area to respond. You know the rest.” Did they? What was a field researcher doing in Whittiker in the first place? Hadn’t the town outlawed anything to do with the Silhouette? Question upon question kept rattling Mari’s brain in a way that made her both anxious and irritable.
“It’s late.” Ella’s quiet voice broke the silence in the room. “Maybe tomorrow we will have clear heads and can discuss this rationally.” She stood then not saying another word as she left the room leaving the door open behind her.
“I guess that’s the cue to take off for the night. Later.” Vander gave a small wave following suit to leave the room with Reagan on his tail.
“And then there were three.” Mari mused looking to the two men. She didn’t want Nyght to leave just yet but under the gaze her uncle had she wondered if she would have to kick him out.
“I believe I owe you both an apology.” Well, that wasn’t what she expected. Marinique shifted uncomfortably not meeting her gaze. “My actions in Hidell…” He shook his head looking to Mari out of the corner of his eye. She was all grown up and he had missed it all. He wished he could tell her the truth, that it wasn’t his choice to be absent from her life for so long but that was a discussion he didn’t feel she was ready for yet although this new information had sped up the process.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Nyght whispered still staring at the journal in his hands. “I know why you did what you did, I don’t need an apology.”
“Me either.” She took a seat next to him on the bed leaning on his shoulder to look at the journal with him. Was it possible in the short few days he had been away from her that she had grown even more? She had been so angry with him the last time he saw her but now she seemed completely at peace. Was this her or was this the influence Nyght had on her?
“Very well.” Marinique turned to leave the room but Mari’s voice stopped him.
“Uncle Rayne?” He turned back to look at the two. “Thank you.” He wasn’t even sure what she was thanking him for, he hadn’t done anything to deserve it. If anything he had acted more like a child than any of them and yet she wasn’t holding it against him. As he closed the door on the two and headed towards his own rarely used room he worried. What was going to happen to the two of them when the truth came out? How was she going to react knowing he had lied to her? Would there be any coming back from the truth once it was out there?
“Maybe if we break it up it will make more sense? The more I read it the more it just sounds like some twisted poem.” Mari flopped over on her back to stare at the ceiling not sure her brain could handle staring at that journal page any longer. Nyght sighed as he closed the journal and set it on the nightstand closest to him. Leaning back also he propped himself up on his elbow so he could look down at her. “What?” She could feel him watching her.
“Nothing just watching you.”
“Creeper.” He laughed then laid on his back next to her. “I don’t even know what to do anymore. How can we get any answers when no one will tell us anything? And why is a demon carrying a torch with my name on it?” He had a thought about that one but worried about voicing it.
“Mari, have you thought that maybe the demon’s your…” She rolled over on top of him holding herself up with her palms on either side of his shoulders and leveled a glare.
“I don’t want to think about that.” He nodded letting all thoughts escape him at the sight of her above him, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders and those emerald eyes keeping steady with his. His mind wandered as she stayed there hovering over him making his hands itch to reach out and touch her. He could only hold out from temptation for so long before his hands were on her body pulling her to him in an embrace that had her stunned, and him too when she fell on top of him.
“Oof.” She tried to roll off where she had just collapsed on his chest but he wouldn’t let her.
“What is wrong with you?” She growled moments later as she gave in and glared at him. He dared to smile at her.
“Can you think of a better way to get your body against mine?” She could, she definitely
could but her irritation at the situation pushed that thought away, but not the blush it had brought.
“Other than pulling on me until I try to squish you? Yes, I can think of quite a few!”
“Oh really now?” He raised an eyebrow, a sleek black line of condescending. “And what might those be?” The blush soared to the top of her head.
“Nyght!” She jiggled a little as he laughed beneath her. He could be such a pain sometimes.
“I’m sorry but it’s so easy to make you blush.” She growled at him. “It’s adorable.” She felt the blush darken though she wasn’t sure it had been possible. Gently he pushed the hair from the side of her face to cup her cheek then kissed her. What started innocent and tender ended up winding tighter and burning hotter than anything she had ever experienced.
“Wow…” It was spoken on an exhale.
“Wow?” He mimicked. She tried to answer but couldn’t find her voice again, or any of her bones. She seemed to have turned into a gelatinous puddle of goo at his actions. “Wonder if I can get something better than wow…” He flipped her over claiming her mouth once more as he caressed her body in a way that made her feel like she was going to go up in flames. This wasn’t like last time when he had tried to take it slow and gentle, he was purposely trying to wind her up as tight as he could and it was working. He worked down the buttons of her blouse letting his fingers splay over the flesh of her stomach once the blouse was gone. Not fair, she could play that game too, at least she thought she could. She hadn’t exactly been the most dominant woman in the world when it came to Tadum. One by one she worked the buttons of his shirt fumbling every time Nyght hit a sensitive spot on her neck or shoulder.
She needed him, needed to be joined with him in a way that both thrilled and scared her. She had never felt this need before, never needed anyone as she needed him now. To be two bodies working as one, two hearts beating as one.
Nyght had managed to strip the rest of their clothing and pull the blanket up over them before she even realized what was going on. “Mari?” She let out a little grunt in response, she was too busy discovering all the places on his neck that made him jump to say anything. “Are you sure?” Was she sure? He was going to ask her that now?! She pulled away from him leveling a look on him that was both full of need and questions. Was he asking her because he wasn’t sure?
“I am, are you?” His response to her question was a slow deep kiss and then an abrupt stop. You don’t just stop! “What is it?”
“If my demon side shows up…” That’s why he was questioning everything. Slowly she leaned up and kissed him while letting her hands trail over his shoulders and up his neck to cradle his face.
“Trust yourself and trust me.”
“I do but I don’t want to hurt you.” She gave an inward sigh. The only thing that was hurting her right now was all of this starting and stopping.
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. But I trust you.” He agreed though she could see the worry in his eyes, she was just going to have to prove to him that there was nothing to worry about.
An hour later as they lay in a tangled heap of limbs and heavy breathing Mari felt a moment of complete contentedness. She was loved, deeply and fully and so was the man wrapped around her complaining about trying to find the energy to find his clothes and then food.
“Are you saying I wore you out?” He leaned up on his elbow from where he laid behind her so he could look into her eyes.
“If you have a reserve of energy still then I did not do my job.” She snorted rolling over to bite his neck then curl around him holding him to her.
“Not an ounce.”
“Good.” He was silent for a second as he looked around the room trying to figure out where their clothes had landed. “Where in the hell are my pants?”
“I think I’m lying on them.” Giving a little squirm at whatever was poking her in the side she managed to pull Nyght’s belt out from underneath her. “Well, I’ve got your belt.”
“Not sure that’s going to be much help.” She shrugged pulling the sheet around her to get up and find their garments, she didn’t want to, she could have stayed in that bed the rest of the night but she couldn’t handle listening to him complain about being hungry much longer.
“How did they get up there?” Mari pulled Nyght’s pants from the top of her desk then threw them at him. “Next time I’m doing the undressing.” Nyght hobbled into his pants then came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist. Giving her earlobe a nip he rocked back and forth with her in his arms.
“Is that next time going to be sometime soon?”
“You are a hound dog you know that?” She pushed off of him with a laugh as she extracted her undergarments from on top of the desk as well.
“Only for you.” She blushed throwing his shirt at him to try and wipe the grin off of his face.
“Think you can keep your blush under control?” He asked not much later as they made their way to the dining hall.
“If you can keep your hands to yourself.” He pouted but whispered something in her ear that had her face turning red. “That was low.” It was a growl but he knew she wasn’t angry as they opened the doors to the dining hall and made their way over to pick out their supper. They found Vander and Ella sitting at a corner table already done with their meals but just relaxing in the room.
“What have you two been up to?” Nyght cast Mari a look but she just shrugged and took a seat next to Ella.
“Brainstorming.” Vander eyed his friend for a long minute taking in how relaxed he seemed. He had never seen him so at ease causing him to wonder if they had really been brainstorming for the last hour and a half or if they had been up to something else. Casting a glance to Mari she didn’t seem as worried or distracted as she had been before as she happily chatted with Ella about some childhood memory. She too seemed relaxed and at ease. It was odd given all the information they had found in the last few days and what Karter had done to everyone.
“Brainstorming my butt.” He wasn’t dense, he knew how they felt about each other, he had seen it in Hidell first hand. Nyght shot him a look out of the corner of his eye that told him to keep his comments to himself before continuing his meal. Standing Vander left the table abruptly without a word to anyone.
“What did I just miss?” Mari asked looking from the door to the dining hall that Vander had just stormed out through then to Nyght who shrugged.
“No idea.”
“I think he’s jealous.” Ella’s always quiet voice seemed louder than usual in her accusation.
“Jealous? Of what?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday Mari. I know what you two have been up to since we all left your room.” Mari blushed a deep red. “In a way, I can’t say I blame him, most Shadows never have a decent relationship if they even have one at all but for you two… you are lucky to have found each other.” Was it luck?
“What do we do?” Ella’s green eyes looked slowly between her two comrades.
“What you’re already doing, be happy with one another.”
“But if it bothers him, or you…” Ella held up a hand to cut Mari off.
“I never said it bothered me just that I can’t blame him for being jealous. You’ve held an engagement with a Shadow, are the niece of one and now are very obviously in love with one, you have had more of a life than any other Shadow I know.” She swallowed hard at Ella’s words feeling almost ashamed of her ties in the organization. “Don’t.” Ella’s empathy picked up on that. “You are lucky to be as loved as you are. The best thing you can do for Vander is to give him his space. He’s happy for you both but sometimes the loneliness gets hard to live with.” Ella stood then leaving the two to finish their meals alone.
“And all of a sudden I’ve lost my appetite.” Mari pushed her plate away from her with a sigh. “Who knew being happy could cause this many problems.”
Nyght cocked his head with a mou
thful of noodles. “Eh?”
“Just, I don’t know, I feel bad I guess. I mean I love Vander and Ella and Reagan too but I don’t want them to feel like we’re rubbing things in their faces or something. Aren’t you worried about Vander?”
He shrugged. “Not really, you heard Ella he’s not mad just…”
“Jealous, yeah I know.”
“She is too.”
“Oh so if Reagan is too it will just make things alright?” Nyght swallowed his noodles with a deep gulp.
“Why is this bothering you so much?” What was it about Vander being a little bit jealous that had her so upset? So he was jealous, big whoop. Someday he’d find a girlfriend and someday Ella would find a… well, girlfriend. Just because they didn’t have that now what was the big deal?
“I don’t know really…” She chewed on her lip for a minute then grabbed her fork to poke at the cut of ham and pineapple on her plate. “I guess I’m just being selfish.” That had his attention.
“How do you figure?”
She shrugged and poked a piece of pineapple until it fell off of her plate. “I guess I just want them all to be happy too, I feel kind of bad having something they don’t.” Reaching across the table Nyght took her unoccupied hand in his.
“You can’t fix everyone.” She nodded but the smile on her face was fake, he knew her real smile, this was the one she used to battle through emotions she didn’t want anyone else to see. “What can I do?”
“Nothing, you’re right I can’t fix everyone but for right now I just want to get out of here. Eat your dinner, I’ll see you later.” She left him sitting there with her untouched dinner plate. He knew it was pointless to go after her, she needed to be alone right now and come to terms with things on her own. Or she was going to go track down Vander and have a long heart to heart with him. His money was on the latter.
Twenty
Mari found Vander out in one of the practice fields using his morningstar to decapitate multiple practice dummies. He did not look happy but she wasn’t sure if it was because of what Ella had told her or the fact that he was grounded like the rest of them. She watched him for a few minutes just taking in the skills he had acquired over the last few months, he had grown too. No longer was he her uncle’s rambling student. He was a man in the throes of war just like the rest of them.